dirt roads

Question

Dirt roads may evoke the bucolic simplicity of another century, but financially strained township point out that dirt roads cost twice as much maintaining paved roads.

A.
B. dirt roads cost twice as much to maintain as paved roads do
C. maintaining dirt roads costs twice as much as paved roads do
d. maintaining dirt roads costs twice as much as it does for paved roads
e. to maintain dirt roads costs twice as much as for paved roads

What do you think about D?

gmataug08 · Answer

I would go with B correct things are compared. D sounds right too, but more wordy. what is OA?

aroon7 · Answer

OA is B but are we comparing "cost of dirt roads" and "cost for maintaing paved roads"? can someone throw light on why D is wrong...

Bidisha800 · Answer

Always replace ellipses to make sure they match : dirt roads cost twice as much to maintain as paved roads cost to maintain (cost to maintain =do)

satish.nagdev · Answer

IMO In D [ maintaining dirt roads costs twice as much as it does for paved roads ] doesn't seem to be idiomatic costs X as much as Y so Y should take paved roads and not it does

aroon7 · Answer

satish.nagdev wrote:IMO
In D [ maintaining dirt roads costs twice as much as it does for paved roads ]
doesn't seem to be idiomatic
costs X as much as Y so Y should take paved roads and not it does

thanks satish

--------------------------
i am back!

perfectstranger · Answer

A. dirt roads cost twice as much maintaining paved roads.-as much…..as is needed here uncomplete and illogically compares dirt roads to maintaining paved roads OUT -
B. dirt roads cost twice as much to maintain as paved roads do – although to maintain looks awkard it is used correctly. To maintain …. Do structurely paralel. Do means to maintain here -
C. maintaining dirt roads costs twice as much as paved roads do- maintaining dirt roads….. paved roads do a passive voice is needed here since paved roads cannot make the maintaining themselves OUT-
d. maintaining dirt roads costs twice as much as it does for paved roads –it refers to what ? dirt roads or maintaining confusing OUT-
e. to maintain dirt roads costs twice as much as for paved roads- maintaining dirt roads is compared with paved roads OUT-

ket · Answer

I also think it's B

Why not D?

1. awkward
2. look at it again 'maintaining dirt roads costs twice as much as it does for paved roads'

after replacing 'it does' - the sentence reads - maintaining dirt roads costs twice as much as maintaining costs for paved roads.

costs for paved roads --- I think this is incorrect...

Domnu · Answer

The pronoun 'it' doesn't refer to anything in D.

Arsene Lupin · Answer

Domnu wrote:The pronoun 'it' doesn't refer to anything in D.

Doesn't "it" refer to "maintaining"?

I can understand the broken parallelism in D, but I still don't understand how "it" has no reference.

I appreciate your help mate.

kvcpk · Answer

Can someone please give me a genuine reason for why the answer is not D?

Mahavir - Shubham · Answer

Grammatically D is correct but B is surely more concise and efficient..and GMAT loves conciseness

GMATGuruNY · Answer

orel wrote:Dirt roads may evoke the bucolic simplicity of another century, but financially strained township point out that dirt roads cost twice as much maintaining paved roads.

A.
B. dirt roads cost twice as much to maintain as paved roads do
C. maintaining dirt roads costs twice as much as paved roads do
d. maintaining dirt roads costs twice as much as it does for paved roads
e. to maintain dirt roads costs twice as much as for paved roads

What do you think about D?

In D, it seems to refer to the entire phrase MAINTAINING DIRT ROADS.
Does is standing in for costs.
Thus, the implied meaning makes no sense: MAINTAINING DIRT ROADS costs twice as much as MAINTAINING DIRT ROADS costs for PAVED ROADS.

Mahavir - Shubham · Answer

Thanks Mitch ! i think you are right

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